


inspire

by erenmin



Series: Arumika Week 2019 [3]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Arumika Week, Arumika Week 2019, F/M, Fluff, Hair, Haircuts, it's cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 12:42:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20778758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erenmin/pseuds/erenmin
Summary: Arumika week day 3: hairArmin never cuts his own hair. And maybe he shouldn't.





	inspire

**Author's Note:**

> hell yeah i wrote this in 45 minutes and posted it at 11:59!! and i'm really proud of it so that's always a plus.

Armin never cuts his own hair.

Sasha usually does it for him and the other guys in their squad since she seems to be a jack of all trades, probably from growing up in the forest with not much to do. She’s been doing it for Armin since they were all the way back in training and she’s always made time for him (and he’s always made sure to pay her in giving her half of his dinner that night), but now all the new recruits are finding about her services and Armin can’t blame her for not turning down the surge of her own little side business. Hell, if she were actually paid monetarily he would offer to handle all the finances for her and have them become a team and the best business partners. 

But his hair is about to reach his shoulders and he’s at his wits end with it always getting in his face but the length still not being enough to tie it back, and that is how he finds himself in the bathroom in the middle of the night with clippers that he had snatched from Sasha’s room while she was downstairs eating. He looks in the mirror and exhales deeply, and wants to back out. He’s not impulsive like this, doing irresponsible and stupid shit. This is much more up Eren’s alley if you ask him, but Eren was doing the opposite and letting his hair grow out instead despite always getting on Mikasa’s case about her hair all those years. He secures the green cape around him to keep his clothes from getting hair and taking a thin strand in his hand and raising his other holding the clippers, he snips. 

It looks fine, but he did cut it a bit shorter than normal, the strand ending right above his chin rather than right under. He shrugs, trying to follow what he did the first time for the next few snips and it’s not nearly as difficult as he imagined it would be. He finishes the right side then goes onto the left side of his hair and it all goes smoothly until all he has to do is the back. He figures it out by ‘marking’ where he needs to cut with fingers and going right along them, figuring he could just catch Sasha in the morning to clean and line up his edges for him. 

But then he sneezes as he raises the clippers and he angles them up too far and he cuts. 

Fuck.

He gasps as the particularly big strand falls to the floor, obviously longer than the other ones and just stares, scared to look back in the mirror. He screws his shut as he curses himself for doing something so dumb and being so impatient, but he couldn’t leave his hair so long when he already has to do more than others to prove himself in the field and during expeditions, he didn’t something as trivial as hair obstructing him anymore. He gets the courage to raise his free hand to the back of his head and feel, and he knows there’s no going back. He grabs what he can and turns his head and he can see it’s a good inch or two shorter than the rest and he needs to fix this fast. 

He’s throwing the hood over his head and making a beeline upstairs to Mikasa and Sasha’s shared room before he can even think about it. He feels terrible, horrible doing this, but he’s panicking and she’s the only person who can help right now and that’s what he tells himself as he gently shakes her shoulder to rouse her. She stirs and moves her shoulder as if to shake Armin’s hand off as she comes to, blinking her eyes open.

“Armin?” She focuses her gaze on him, sitting up quickly when she notices him in the green cape. “Is there an emergency? Why are you in uniform?”

“No, everything’s fine,” Armin reassures her, putting his other hand on her other shoulder. “I did something stupid and I need your help. Just come with me. Please.” She nods and swings her legs over the edge of her bed and rises, waiting for him to take the lead. 

He takes her hand and rushes back to the bathroom, his other hand holding tightly onto his hood so it wouldn’t fall off and by some chance be spotted by some random person wandering around to find the bathroom and to cope with their insomnia. They make it to the bathroom and Armin sees Mikasa stop when she sees the pile of hair on the floor and in the sink, putting two and two together as Armin reluctantly shoves his hood off to reveal the damage. 

Mikasa smiles endearingly at the mess, slightly shaking her head at Armin.

“Why didn’t you just ask me to cut your hair in the first place?”

“What?” Armin snaps his neck up from the floor to look at Mikasa in surprise. “You know how to cut hair?”

“I always have,” she shrugs. “It’s a useful skill to have.”

Armin scoffs. “So I’ve never needed to give half my food to Sasha all these years?” He’s freaking out at this point, and he feels so stupid and burdensome having waken Mikasa up for something so idiotic and completely prevantable. Mikasa closes the gap between them and takes his face in her hands, bringing him back to reality. 

“Hey, it’s okay. I can fix this.” She says, then gives him a quick kiss on his lips to comfort him. “I will have to make it even, so I have to cut down the sides to line up with the back though, so it’s going to be really short.”

“Just do whatever you need to do. I trust you.” Armin gives her a weak smile, and Mikasa smiles back warmly and nods curtly. 

She takes the clippers from the side of the sink and realizes the awkward angle she would be at if Armin stayed standing, so she sends him out quickly to fetch a stool from the dining room for him to sit down on. She works quickly and vigilantly, constantly going over certain spots so it doesn’t look uneven. She makes him turn around and she trims his bangs to right above his eyes, thankfully keeping those longer than the rest of his hair. She finally sets the clippers back onto the sink and runs her fingers through his hair to calm and style it the best she can before turning Armin back around to face the mirror. He starts at his own reflection, which makes Mikasa chuckle. 

“I’m not used to being able to see your ears either,” she says, putting a supportive hand on his shoulder as she looks at him through the mirror. “What do you think?”

“It’s different,” he runs his hands through his hair, actually able to touch his scalp. “My head feels lighter.”

“You had a lot of hair,” she agrees. “Hair always grows back, you know.”

“Yeah,” Armin sighs. “At least it’s out of my face. Thank you, Mikasa.”

“Of course, Armin. Just come to me whenever you need your hair from now on, okay?”

“Yeah? Will I have to give you half of my dinner too?”

“No, just your bread.” Armin snickers. 

“That’s fair,” he stands up and turns around to give Mikasa a kiss. “I’ll go grab a broom.”

“No, I’ll handle it. You go to bed.” She shakes her head. 

“Mikasa, I can’t make you clean up my-” she cups her hand over his mouth to stop his talking.

“Nope, you’re not winning this one.” she says. “I need to work for that bread, you know.” 

Armin sighs in defeat, knowing Mikasa could argue with him all night. He kisses her more deeply this time to show his thanks and then makes his way to bed, blushing deeply when he catches her distant voice saying something about him looking handsome.

***

Armin is almost done with breakfast when Mikasa finally walks into the dining room, and he nearly chokes on his food when he catches sight of her. Her hair is still a little bit longer than his, but still considerably shorter compared to last night as it stops above her chin. 

“Mikasa, your hair.” he marvels at her, not being able to find words. 

“I was inspired after you left,” she shrugged, sitting down next to him. “You like it?”

“You look beautiful,” is all he manages to say, and his point is proven further when her cheeks turn red and she smiles bashfully at him. 

“Thank you,” she looks down at the table, avoiding his gaze. “Thought we could kinda match, you know?”

Armin nods at her question, deciding that maybe his new haircut wasn’t too bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](https://erenmin.tumblr.com)
> 
> feedback is always appreciated!!


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